I thought my dog would cure my son's Crohn's disease. He failed.

I love him anyway

Otis

I've given friends a lot of reasons for why my family got a dog, and they are all absolutely true: We wanted to be the kind of parents who get their kids a dog. I had a dog when I was a kid. WE COULD ALL DIE TOMORROW!

But there is another truth, a deeper truth, that I haven't told a single living soul: I thought that the dog would cure my son's Crohn's Disease.

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Cynthia Kaplan

Cynthia Kaplan is the author of two collections of comic essays, Why I'm Like This: True Stories and Leave the Building Quickly. She has written for The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and New York Magazine, among many others, as well as for television and film. She lives in New York City with her family and difficult dog and frequently performs with her band, The Cynthia Kaplan Ordeal.